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Do Your Clothes Fit You?

Whether homemade or store bought, do clothes tend to fit you well? If you’re like me, chances are you’ve had countless occasions in life where you’ve fallen in love with a gorgeous dress only to find that the fit is totally off. Or you’ve excitedly cut into your precious cloth with a sewing pattern you adore only to find there’s no way in the world the design is ever going to fit. That’s why we sew, I gather, to try to achieve perfection in fit and style, but there will always be those alterations which need to be done in order to achieve that close-to-perfect (if not flawless) fit. But there’s hope! Read on…

Let’s begin with some great books that will aid you in altering clothing and patterns from full-figures to petite figures, which have been tested by real people for comprehension and have passed those tests with flying colors.

Fit For Real People— What people are saying: “One of the best examples of why we sew was the fitting example of Martha’s jacket. The book showed Martha wearing an altered size 12 pattern. It also showed her wearing jackets in similar styles in various price ranges and from various stores. The altered size 12 was the best fitting and most flattering by far. It outshone even those designer jackets costing hundreds of dollars.”

“I have been sewing for over 50 years. The one thing that always bugged me over the years was pattern fitting. I soon found out that I was not a standard fit when the bodices of dresses did not meet across the chest and the front waistlines were up around my ribcage. I had a larger than a b cup bra. It wasn’t until recent years that I was told that patterns were only drafted for b cup bras. So many books simplify one problem and do not let you see how the alterations affect other seams. This book goes through the whole process. It is the most comprehensive book on the market today.”

The Perfect Fit: The Classic Guide to Altering Patterns— What people are saying: "Since I have more than a few figure flaws, this book has given me so much help with pattern alterations. Good Pattern alteration has been the biggest issue with my joy of sewing. This book has made it fast and easy with photos of real people with specific issues from “full figure”, to “tiny figure”.

“Now I can tailor my clothes so that I don’t look like I am wearing someone else’s leftovers. It shows you how to figure out your own body type and then how to alter the patterns to fit it. The fashion industry has not done justice to good taste in clothing styles. We all seem to be expected to fit in to their mold and it’s just not possible. Now I have the freedom to make clothes just for me and what I like and most of all what LOOKSGOOD on ME. "

Sewing for Plus Sizes: Creating Clothes that Fit and Flatter— What people are saying: "What I especially like is that this book addresses problems such as adjustments for a lower hanging bust (most patterns think you’re a 20-year-old B cup) and hanging belly. No book would know or dare to put adjustments in their book because someone might get offended. I’m not offended, I just want my darn clothes to fit properly! "

“This book is a masterpiece of practical information for those who would sew for any size person. Barbara Deckert has geared it to the “plus size” person, but the information it contains about line, design, fabric selection, equipment for sewing, and pattern alteration is applicable to anybody. The book has many very useful illustrations of various body shapes and the way various styles will look on them, along with suggestions for modifying garment styles to make them the most attractive on those shapes. "

Pattern Fitting With Confidence— (This is actually a re-issue of Fitting Finesse By Nancy Luedtke Zieman, the latter includes a DVD)— What people are saying: "I’ve always known I’m hard to fit – short, heavy, 40G bust, big belly, large thighs, short arms, big biceps, extremely short rise, etc… After working through my measurements and comparing them with the information in Fitting Finesse and the industry “standard” measurements, I finally understood why I am so hard to fit. The book was worth its price just in finally feeling validated instead of picky when nothing fits right. I guess that’s why I sew…"

“I loved this book. It gave the best and easiest directions on how to enlarge patterns and get them to fit, that I ever read. I had been trying for years to get patterns to fit my larger “attributes” and this books tells you concisely how to enlarge or make smaller all the parts that you would need to alter. Very good for the entry level to intermediate sewer ."

Customization is Key:

If you’ve not yet ventured into making a basic pattern block (or sloper as we say in fashion school) I guarantee that you will come out on top if you take the time to create some for yourself. Once you create one basic skirt sloper you can make countless skirt variations, knowing that the fit will be spot-on each time you cut into that pretty fabric!

If you feel like you’d like you need to see sewing happening live to understand what the heck is going on, you must be sure to check out the shows and classes below. BurdaStyle was a media sponsor for It’s Sew Easy season 2, which features one of our members! Guess who?

BurdaStyle members— we’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions for how you make your clothes fit better, and how you alter your patterns. Be sure to check out our Resource Map too. If you have any resources or tips you’d like to share, leave a comment!

57 Comments

Thank you for the links! I will be trying to make a sloper for myself soon. Truthfully I have not found a garment in the last ten years that has fit me well. Always something is “off”.

I have been losing weight since January and doing well, slow and steady keeping it off and I think I’m ready to make some things for myself. I’m tall, broad shoulders, D cup-though they and my rear are “shrinking” with the weight loss, lol! I am looking forward to wearing better fitting garments (and avoiding having to buy ready-made and then going through the effort of adjusting it). I use the New Complete Guide to Sewing by Readers Digest, the book has a pretty good section on alterations and pattern modification.

Thanks for the links…
I started sewing because I could never find anything that fitted in stores. Now, its much much better with what I madùke… But I still have a problem with my bodice slopers, even with the ones I draw myself: the armhole. Its either too small and hurt my shoulder when I move my arms toward the front, or too wide and my bra is showing…
Any idea to help me?

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Normally, a basic bodice does not have much EASE, which would definitely make for tightly fitted armholes. Try adding 1/2" ease to the seams and work from there. As we know in sewing, making something smaller is much easier than making something larger!

I also have the same problem, but haven’t gotten around to fixing my sloper. Actually minimum wearing ease is the bane of my life. I’m constantly drafting patterns that fits my dummy perfectly, but I can’t breath, sit, or go to the toilet in!

I’d love to understand where the ease really needs to be and what’s the minimum I can get away with. I’ve seen very close fitting RTW on other people before, so I’m not convinced it has to be frumpily roomy to be comfortable.

In NZ, most of the clothing you get in stores is made in asia. This is to keep prices down I think. Unfortunately, they appear to be designed for delicate asian girls, which I am not. The sleeves and armholes are too small, the bust is too small, there is no allowance for bums or shoulders and I generally find that the clothes appear to have been designed for women much shorter than me. I am only 5’7". Modern patterns often have similar issues, especially with the height and boob problems. If you have a bum and boobs and are over 5’5", then in addition to a good sewing book, try patterns from pre-1960ish. They’re easy to adjust, and can be easily modernised by shortening the skirt or lowering the neckline.

The book Fit for Real People is perfect to start off this post. This book has helped me incredibly. When wearing well fitted clothing, I get a lot of compliments on the garment. I believe that this has a lot to do with how well it fits my particular body shape. I have shoulders that slope forward (i change the angle of the shoulder seam for this), shoulder blades that point out my back (added fabric to the back area) and have shoulders that are different than how patterns usually come. The Threads fitting DVD series has helped me also with this. I got it from my local library. For shoulders, they say that you should have someone draw your shoulder line onto a piece of paper and use this to compare your pattern to. Then, adjust the shoulder line so that it matches yours. This makes it so that there is not any extra fabric falling or strained because of your shoulder line.

I used to be a size 8 at the top and 10 at the bottom, and skirts tended to be loose on the bust and too tight on the hips. I found putting on weight and wearing an elasticated belt on the waist helps and now it doesn’t look as bas as it used to be , but would love to be able to make dresses that are just right for me.

Thank you so much for this article! When I read that patterns are always made in B-cup finally understood why dresses bodice tend to have a terrible fit on me but looks great on my mom (we both have size 38 but I’m 75D and she’s 75B). I’m not confident to draw my own patterns yet, but I’m sure I’ll be there soon. I’m getting a little frustrated over all my dresses ending up in mom’s closet instead of my own : )

Wonderfull article and I agree with all of you. Fitting is the reason that got me started. We don’t have to fit clothes, they have to fit us right? I don’t know much about pattern alterations yet, except my usuall of combining two sizes in one pattern, to match my pear shaped figure and adding depth to back darts, but I was currently looking for a good book. It definately takes effort but it’s worth it. What aggravates me is not the fact that most people don’t know when a garment actually fits, but when they won’t bother with the smallest fitting adjustment and they look for the perfect fitting in industry producted clothes. Yeah right if you find it let me know!

1 Reply

I’m currently designing my bridesmaids dresses and I’m learning that almost everyone is 2 different sizes on the top and bottom— my trick to work towards everyone’s advantage is to make the dresses with fitted bodices with looser gathered or A-line skirts to accommodate.

The first question, perhaps should be, “How do you know if your clothes fit well?”

Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t know that their clothes don’t fit so well. The mass produced, “average” shaped and incremental sizing have led many to believe that if they can fit their body into the marked size, then it “fits.” Mass production means a lot of people have gotten used to really bad fitting clothes. Sigh.

How do you know if pants fit? The side seam should be absolutely straight (no curves to the fore or aft). “Smiles” on the rear view, camels on the front, creases running towards the calf, muffintop/pinching waistband…are just a few common signs that pants don’t “fit.” It may seem obvious, but a look around shows it’s not really—even with many sewers. So…I’d love to see more articles here on all aspects of fit (especially with photos and technical info!)

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Hear hear! As the step-mum of teenage girls, I often find myself jumping in to offer hints about the off-the-rack clothes they pick, and they almost always go for size over shape or style or fit! I’m sure they think I’m loopy, but I’m just trying to counsel them out of any potential disasters – education is the key!

My answer is – very rarely the bought clothes fit perfectly, and when it comes to making my own- I learned it hard way, the pattern must be measured and compared to your own measurement before cutting it out of the fabric- it will only save you time and a lot of grief!

Those articles on How to Make a Sloper make me wonder why they never taught us anything like that in our geometry classes back in school days.

It would have given me patterns and taught me to like math! ha!

I’ve had very good luck with Bernina My Label, pattern-making software. I got very nicely fitted blocks, very quickly. It doesn’t run well on Mac, and it’s not cheap, unfortunately, but I seem them on Craigslist now and then. I use mine on Windows XP and it works perfectly.

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I was one of Bernina’s testers when they were fine tuning the software for My Label and I really enjoyed it. I wonder how much it has changed since 2006? I also have a mac so most pattern making software seems incompatible with my computer, still looking for the right one.

Do you think My Label worth the price? I would like to buy it and downloaded the demo, but it doesn’t let you do many things. Can you alter basic things like round neck to V neck or cut angled hem lines? I would appreciate your intake on this. Thanks:)

I just bought: The Perfect Fit: The Classic Guide to Altering Patterns and can highly recommend it.

I am a 14 on my shoulders, small bust, 8 on the waiste and have muscley thighs and arms
Also my waist would come about 4cm lower than natural waist on store bought c lothes. it is impossible for me to get anything to fit except skirts.

I am an in-between size. Size 14 (US) patterns are too tight and short in the bust, and size 16 patterns are too big everywhere. I started altering the 14’s to be longer, but I still haven’t figured out (successfully) to add add fullness to the bust.

Sometimes I find that there is pulling in the neckline down my front, both on handmade and shop bought clothes. I’ve come to the conclusion that my shoulders slope downwards more than the standard fit.

A book (The Essential Sewing Guide) told me to widen my back neckline, however I have found simply adjusting the angle of the shoulder lines much more effective; the other advice just causes gaping at the back.

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